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New application to link SUS data to GP and Social Care Data

NHS Greater Manchester ICB · Sub ICB Location

Listed under NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board.

Expired The latest version ended on 28 February 2022. The September 2026 register still lists the agreement, but its term has passed.

Reference
DARS-NIC-272984-V0C5X
Latest version
v0.2
Term of latest version
1 March 2019 to 28 February 2022
Start date
1 March 2019
Data controller
Sole Data Controller
Commercial purposes
No
Sublicensing
No
Files released to date
0

Why the data was released

Objective for processing

Commissioning

To use pseudonymised data to provide intelligence to support the commissioning of health services. The data (containing both clinical and financial information) is analysed so that health care provision can be planned to support the needs of the population within the CCG area.

The CCGs commission services from a range of providers covering a wide array of services. Each of the data flow categories requested supports the commissioned activity of one or more providers.

The following pseudonymised datasets are required to provide intelligence to support commissioning of health services:

- Secondary Uses Service (SUS+)

The pseudonymised data is required to for the following purposes:

 Population health management:

• Understanding the interdependency of care services

• Targeting care more effectively

• Using value as the redesign principle

 Data Quality and Validation – allowing data quality checks on the submitted data

 Thoroughly investigating the needs of the population, to ensure the right services are available for individuals when and where they need them

 Understanding cohorts of residents who are at risk of becoming users of some of the more expensive services, to better understand and manage those needs

 Monitoring population health and care interactions to understand where people may slip through the net, or where the provision of care may be being duplicated

 Modelling activity across all data sets to understand how services interact with each other, and to understand how changes in one service may affect flows through another

 Service redesign

 Health Needs Assessment – identification of underlying disease prevalence within the local population

 Patient stratification and predictive modelling - to identify specific patients at risk of requiring hospital admission and other avoidable factors such as risk of falls, computed using algorithms executed against linked de-identified data, and identification of future service delivery models

NHS Manchester CCG needs access to pseudonymised datasets that can be linked together to enable the commissioning of high quality and effective services that meet the needs of the population it serves.

The linked datasets will provide a holistic view of the need and utilisation of services, where gaps exist and will support the following commissioning activities:

Assessing need and demand for services

• Population segmentation and profiling

• Epidemiology

• Risk Stratification and predictive modelling to identify patients most at risk

Review of Services and their interdependencies

• Service utilisation

• Capacity and gap analysis

• Cost benefit analysis

• Cost effectiveness analysis

Risk Management

• Identification of key health and healthcare risks

• Financial control: risks identified and managed

• Delivery of national and local targets

Priority Setting

• Target health and care priorities more effectively

• Resource allocation and budget setting

• Activity and financial modelling

Shaping Supply

• Service re-design

Contract Implementation and monitoring

• Activity and financial plan setting

• Contract KPIs setting

• Contract and budget monitoring

• Outcomes monitoring

• Service evaluation

• Data Quality checking and improvement plans

The pseudonymised data is required to ensure that analysis of health care provision can be completed to support the needs of the health profile of the population within the CCG area based on the full analysis of multiple pseudonymised datasets.

Processing for commissioning will be conducted by Manchester CCG.

Processing activities

Data must only be used for the purposes stipulated within this Data Sharing Agreement. Any additional disclosure / publication will require further approval from NHS Digital.

Data Processors must only act upon specific instructions from the Data Controller.

Data can only be stored at the addresses listed under storage addresses.

All access to data is managed under Role-Based Access Controls. Users can only access data authorised by their role.

Patient level data will not be linked other than as specifically detailed within this Data Sharing Agreement. Data released will only be shared with those parties listed and will only be used for the purposes laid out in the application/agreement. The data to be released from NHS Digital will not be national data.

NHS Digital reminds all organisations party to this agreement of the need to comply with the Data Sharing Framework Contract requirements, including those regarding the use (and purposes of that use) by “Personnel” (as defined within the Data Sharing Framework Contract ie: employees, agents and contractors of the Data Recipient who may have access to that data)

Onward Sharing

Patient level data will not be shared outside of the CCG unless it is for the purpose of Direct Care, where it may be shared only with those health professionals who have a legitimate relationship with the patient and a legitimate reason to access the data.

Aggregated reports only with small number suppression can be shared externally as set out within NHS Digital guidance applicable to each data set.

Segregation

Where the Data Processor and/or the Data Controller hold both identifiable and pseudonymised data, the data will be held separately so data cannot be linked.

All access to data is auditable by NHS Digital.

Data Minimisation

Data Minimisation in relation to the data sets listed within the application are listed below. This also includes the purpose on which they would be applied -

For the purpose of Commissioning:

• Patients who are normally registered and/or resident within the Manchester CCG (including historical activity where the patient was previously registered or resident in another commissioner).

and/or

• Patients treated by a provider where Manchester CCG is the host/co-ordinating commissioner and/or has the primary responsibility for the provider services in the local health economy – this is only for commissioning and relates to both national and local flows.

and/or

• Activity identified by the provider and recorded as such within national systems (such as SUS+) as for the attention of Manchester CCG - this is only for commissioning and relates to both national and local flows.

Local Identifiers:

If a Data Controller organisation (or the Data Processor working on their behalf):

a. only receives a DSCRO disseminated identifiable (NHS Number) flow, then it can receive clear local identifiers.

b. receives and pseudonymised flow, then clear local identifiers can be included and used only for the purpose outlined within the Data Sharing Agreement

c. receives both DSCRO disseminated identifiable and pseudonymised flows, the identifiable flow must have the local identifiers pseudonymised or removed.

NHS Ilkeston Community Hospital do not access data held under this agreement as they only supply the building. Therefore, any access to the data held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement. This includes granting of access to the database[s] containing the data.

The Data Services for Commissioners Regional Office (DSCRO) obtains the following data sets:

1. SUS+

Data quality management and pseudonymisation is completed within the DSCRO using the open pseudonymiser tool and is then disseminated as follows:

1. Pseudonymised SUS+ only is securely transferred from the DSCRO to Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit.

2. Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit add derived fields and link data

3. Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit securely pass the pseudonymised SUS data to NHS Manchester CCG.

4. Identifiable GP data is securely extracted from the GP systems by NHS Manchester CCG, which acts as a data processor on behalf of the GP practice. The data is pseudonymised by NHS Manchester CCG (acting on behalf of the GP practices) in a controlled area on the network by individuals who don’t then have access to the pseudonymised data for analysis. This is done using an open pseudonymisation tool and an ‘Encryption Key’ which is specific to the project, provided by the DSCRO.

5. The pseudonymised GP data is transferred from the controlled area within NHS Manchester CCG to a separate server where the data can be linked by the CCG’s commissioning analysts in a controlled environment by named members of staff.

6. Manchester City Council pseudonymise social care data at source using the open pseudonymisation tool and an ‘Encryption Key’ which is specific to the project, provided by the DSCRO.

7. Manchester City Council transfer the pseudonymised data to NHS Manchester CCG.

8. NHS Manchester CCG provide analysis to:

a. See patient journeys for pathways or service design, re-design and de-commissioning.

b. Check recorded activity against contracts or invoices and facilitate discussions with providers.

c. Undertake population health management

d. Undertake data quality and validation checks

e. Thoroughly investigate the needs of the population

f. Understand cohorts of residents who are at risk

g. Conduct Health Needs Assessments

9. Allowed linkage is between the data sets contained within points 1, 5 and 7.

10. Aggregation of required data for CCG management use will be completed by NHS Manchester CCG.

11. Patient level data will not be shared outside of the CCG and will only be shared within the CCG on a need to know basis, as per the purposes stipulated within the Data Sharing Agreement. External aggregated reports only with small number suppression can be shared as set out within NHS Digital guidance applicable to each data set.

Aggregate reports with small number suppression commissioning intelligence will be available to a range of partner organisations. The data will be used to understand patient journeys for pathway and service re-design. Access to commissioning intelligence is governed by respective organisation employee code of practice, data protection policies and information governance protocols.

The open pseudonymisation key cannot be used to re-identify data as it only allows for one-way pseudonymisation.

Expected output

COMMISSIONING

1. Commissioner reporting:

a. Summary by provider view - plan & actuals year to date (YTD).

b. Summary by Patient Outcome Data (POD) view - plan & actuals YTD.

c. Summary by provider view - activity & finance variance by POD.

d. Planned care by provider view - activity & finance plan & actuals YTD.

e. Planned care by POD view - activity plan & actuals YTD.

f. Provider reporting.

g. Statutory returns.

h. Statutory returns - monthly activity return.

i. Statutory returns - quarterly activity return.

j. Delayed discharges.

k. Quality & performance referral to treatment reporting.

2. Readmissions analysis.

3. Production of aggregate reports for CCG Business Intelligence.

4. Production of project / programme level dashboards.

5. Monitoring of acute / community / mental health quality matrix.

6. Clinical coding reviews / audits.

7. Budget reporting down to individual GP Practice level.

8. GP Practice level dashboard reports include high flyers.

9. Comparators of CCG performance with similar CCGs as set out by a specific range of care quality and performance measures detailed activity and cost reports

10. Data Quality and Validation measures allowing data quality checks on the submitted data

11. Contract Management and Modelling

12. Patient Stratification, such as:

o Patients at highest risk of admission

o Most expensive patients (top 15%)

o Frail and elderly

o Patients that are currently in hospital

o Patients with most referrals to secondary care

o Patients with most emergency activity

o Patients with most expensive prescriptions

o Patients recently moving from one care setting to another

i. Discharged from hospital

ii. Discharged from community

13. Validation for payment approval, ability to validate that claims are not being made after an individual has died, like Oxygen services.

14. Validation of programs implemented to improve patient pathway e.g. High users unable to validate if the process to help patients find the best support are working or did the patient die.

15. Clinical - understand reasons why patients are dying, what additional support services can be put in to support.

16. Understanding where patient are dying e.g. are patients dying at hospitals due to hospices closing due to Local authorities withdrawing support, or is there a problem at a particular trust.

17. Removal of patients from Risk Stratification reports.

18. Re births provide a one stop shop of information, Births are recorded in multiple sources covering hospital and home births, a chance to overlook activity.

Expected measurable benefits

Commissioning

1. Supporting Quality Innovation Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) to review demand management, integrated care and pathways.

a. Analysis to support full business cases.

b. Develop business models.

c. Monitor In year projects.

2. Supporting Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for specific disease types.

3. Health economic modelling using:

a. Analysis on provider performance against 18 weeks wait targets.

b. Learning from and predicting likely patient pathways for certain conditions, in order to influence early interventions and other treatments for patients.

c. Analysis of outcome measures for differential treatments, accounting for the full patient pathway.

d. Analysis to understand emergency care and linking A&E and Emergency Urgent Care Flows (EUCC).

4. Commissioning cycle support for grouping and re-costing previous activity.

5. Enables monitoring of:

a. CCG outcome indicators.

b. Financial and Non-financial validation of activity.

c. Successful delivery of integrated care within the CCG.

d. Checking frequent or multiple attendances to improve early intervention and avoid admissions.

e. Case management.

f. Care service planning.

g. Commissioning and performance management.

h. List size verification by GP practices.

i. Understanding the care of patients in nursing homes.

6. Feedback to NHS service providers on data quality at an aggregate and individual record level – only on data initially provided by the service providers.

7. Improved planning by better understanding patient flows through the healthcare system, thus allowing commissioners to design appropriate pathways to improve patient flow and allowing commissioners to identify priorities and identify plans to address these.

8. Improved quality of services through reduced emergency readmissions, especially avoidable emergency admissions. This is achieved through mapping of frequent users of emergency services and early intervention of appropriate care.

9. Improved access to services by identifying which services may be in demand but have poor access, and from this identify areas where improvement is required.

10. Potentially reduced premature mortality by more targeted intervention in primary care, which supports the commissioner to meets its requirement to reduce premature mortality in line with the CCG Outcome Framework.

11. Better understanding of the health of and the variations in health outcomes within the population to help understand local population characteristics.

12. Better understanding of contract requirements, contract execution, and required services for management of existing contracts, and to assist with identification and planning of future contracts

13. Insights into patient outcomes, and identification of the possible efficacy of outcomes-based contracting opportunities.

14. Providing greater understanding of the underlying courses and look to commission improved supportive networks, this would be ongoing work which would be continually assessed.

15. Insight to understand the numerous factors that play a role in the outcome for both datasets. The linkage will allow the reporting both prior to, during and after the activity, to provide greater assurance on predictive outcomes and delivery of best practice.

16. Provision of indicators of health problems, and patterns of risk within the commissioning region.

17. Support of benchmarking for evaluating progress in future years.

Benefits reported so far

Yielded Benefits is not a requirement for new applications.

Datasets on the latest version

Legal basis for provision: Health and Social Care Act 2012 – s261(2)(b)(ii)

Datasets approved under DARS-NIC-272984-V0C5X-v0.2
DatasetType of dataSensitivity FrequencyConfidential data
SUS for Commissioners Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant Sensitive Frequent Adhoc Flow Does not include the flow of confidential data

Files released

Files released counts only files released externally by DARS. Access granted in NHS England's own systems, such as its Secure Data Environment, is not included.

No files recorded as released under this agreement.

Version history

The register lists each renewal of this agreement as a separate row. This site has 1 version.

DARS-NIC-272984-V0C5X-v0.2 1 March 2019 to 28 February 2022
Title
New application to link SUS data to GP and Social Care Data
Commercial
No
Sublicensing
No
Datasets
1
Files released
0

Datasets: SUS for Commissioners

Register history

When this agreement appeared in, or was edited in, each monthly edition of the register. Built by comparing every edition this site holds, the earliest of which is July 2021.

Cite this page

NHS England (2026) Data Uses Register, September 2026 edition, agreement DARS-NIC-272984-V0C5X, “New application to link SUS data to GP and Social Care Data”. Read via NHS Data Access Explorer (unofficial), https://healthdatauses.uk/agreements/dars-nic-272984-v0c5x/ (accessed [date]).

This address stays the same, but the page is rebuilt with each monthly edition, so the citation names the edition it shows. Every edition's data is kept in the facts store.

Source: datausesregister_september2026.xlsx, September 2026 edition of the NHS England Data Uses Register. Search that workbook for DARS-NIC-272984-V0C5X to see the original rows.